Brave (Healer) (23 page)

             
‘Now that you have an idea of what we do here, I’d like to talk to you about what we’ve been doing to help you, Cassie,’ Arrow says calmly and we go back to her apartment for some peace to have a discussion that I’m not looking forward to having.

             
I have to relive the days where Gabe and Rose first found Arrow and begged for help. ‘At first I had no idea how I could stop Gabe from turning into a vampire. I didn’t think I could but Rose is family and she was desperate for me to help,’ Arrow explains. ‘So I didn’t sleep. I stayed up all night for days raking through the library to find something and eventually I did. There’s a book of extraction spells that told me exactly how I could remove the traces of vampire blood in Gabe’s system.’

             
I wince. I may have come to terms with how things have ended between Gabe and I but it doesn’t lessen the pain of remembering that awful time. I had nothing to do but wait to hear if he would die or become a vampire.

             
‘It was a fairly simple vocal spell but I knew the repercussions could be severe. We all knew the risks... that he could lose his memories, he might even have lost his ability to speak and walk but it was a risk that Gabe was willing to take. He didn’t take it lightly and we did try to persuade him to consider other options but ultimately it was his decision.’

             
I don’t need to hear this. I’ve gone over it enough times and I get all the friendly reassurance from Rose that I was not an insignificant factor in Gabe’s life.

             
‘So I did it. He was unconscious for a while and I was terrified that I’d messed up the spell. I know Rose has very little faith in what we do here so I didn’t want to give her yet another reason to mistrust us. Thankfully it worked. He woke up. He could walk, he could speak and he wasn’t a vampire. It was miraculous really.’

             
I nod and let the pieces of the puzzle fit together. While all this had been happening I was left in the dark, I had to move on with my life but it had been a near impossible task.

             
‘But at first it appeared he had none of his memories. Only some as a child. And he refused to come out of his room. It was horrible. For months, Rose and I tried to get him to move on, to remember things. I spent a lot of time researching a spell for memory reattachment but eventually we probed him long enough to figure out all of his memories were indeed still in tact.’

             
‘Look, Arrow... I don’t want to hear this right now,’ I say. I’ve relived Gabe’s rejection a thousand times by this point. My whole life has revolved around that rejection.

             
‘You might not
want
to hear it but I think it’s good for you, Cassie, I’ve heard a lot about you and I think it’s an important part of your healing process to understand what happened during those months that Gabe and Rose were staying with me.’

             
She’s right. That’s infuriating. It makes me feel uneasy how much Arrow knows about me. Rose must have no problem telling her second cousin about my woes then I wonder how much of Arrow’s knowledge of me came from her months of probing a reclusive Gabe.

             
‘Once we realised that he had all his memories, we had to work on getting him to be functional again. It wasn’t easy but all he needed was time and support. Rose is a magnificent friend to him. When it came to pass that Maurice was after Claire, Gabe knew what he had to do. He loved you but Claire was too important to him and he knew that he was toxic for you.’

             
‘I know all of this, Arrow,’ I whisper. Rose is a magnificent friend. Gabe and I don’t deserve such a giving and warm person in our lives, I know that much, but somehow she has been here for us through possibly the hardest year of both of our lives. I know that. I also know that Gabe made up his mind about me while he was staying here. He made up his mind while I was under the impression that he had no mind to make up. I thought he was a shadow of his former self but he was living a totally different life in New York City.

             
Arrow continues while I chew my lip, ‘I had spent so long working on a memory spell which we thought we would have to use on Gabe so by the time we went to protect Claire I had come up with one that I could use on her.’

             
The spell was supposed to be used to give Gabe back his memories and bring him back to me instead it was used to bring Claire back to him. I must be giving away my thoughts because Arrow says, ‘I’m sorry if you feel Rose and I betrayed you by agreeing to restore Claire’s memories and help Gabe get her back but it wasn’t really our choice to make.’

             
Betrayed? No. I don’t think that. Yes, at one point I was hurt that Rose hadn’t tried harder to make Gabe and I work but I was given the time to realise that it was for the best. It wasn’t fair to force something that wasn’t meant to happen and finding out that Gabe had chosen to go to Claire gave me the push I needed to fall into Oliver’s arms.

             
‘So Rose came to find you because she knew that you needed her more than Gabe did anymore. Gabe and I went to find Claire before Maurice could then I used a potion to restore her memories and it took less than a minute for them to fall in love again...’

             
Envy courses through me for a few seconds until I remind myself that I have Oliver and that I am happy for Gabe. I am happy that he is happy. She has made him into the good person I always knew he could be. I want to meet her and thank her for that. Maybe not today, I might not even be ready in a few years to face the woman that took my first love but eventually I will embrace her and express my gratitude for saving a boy I care for very deeply.

             
Thankfully, the discussion of Gabe dies down and Arrow goes on to tell me that two of her sisters were tracking Maurice and some were working on remedies to build their strength so they could take him down. I get the impression that it was very brave, and extremely reckless, for Rose to go up against three immortals. Guilt hits me again as I am reminded once more of how much I owe Rose and how much she could have lost by saving my life.

             
‘You see it’s all a case of nature, Cassie. You may consider us to unnatural or supernatural or whatever but witches, shape shifters and vampires were created as part of the earthly balance and there would be an imbalance if vampires were truly immortal. The only thing that should be able to kill a vampire is wood but, typically, witches figured out a way to go against nature and a way to kill vampires...’

             
‘But you’re going against nature so it hurts you?’

             
‘Yes, we’re not supposed to be able to use our magic to take life so nature punishes us by depleting our power source. Luckily, Rose hadn’t used her energy for years so she had built up a bank before she went up against those vampires in your hometown.’

             
As if I didn’t feel bad enough about her risking her life for me, I realise the true severity of what she did. Witches are not supposed to kill vampires and Rose killed three for me. I can’t imagine how low her energy must be now but she isn’t letting on.

             
‘Don’t worry about it. Rose and I are from the most powerful witch heritage so her powers are infinitely stronger than some of the other witches,’ she says pityingly as she must be able to see the guilt all over my face. It doesn’t comfort me.

             
‘Now here we are, not too far away from a happy ending,’ she smiles at me. ‘Do you want some tea?’

             
Happy endings seem like lightyears away from where I am. We might be close to getting rid of Maurice and I might have Oliver in my life now but a life where I can be carefree and content seems like an impossible fate to reach after this year. It seems wrong to even think about it. Is it okay to be buying Christmas decorations in New York when so much is still painful in this world? I find the term happy ending laughable when my stepmother has cancer at home and the queue of vampires waiting outside my door is so long it is fading into the horizon.

             
The thought of drinking her leafy tea right now makes my stomach turn so I politely decline. She starts to brew a pot that smells of boiled spinach when I ask, ‘So what’s the next move then, Arrow?’

             
The phone begins to ring so she excuses herself to answer it. I listen intently to her side of the conversation: ‘Arrow speaking... yes... oh my... you’re kidding? That’s amazing news... Call me again in ten minutes I have to tell everyone!’

             
I have no doubt what she is about to say and I feel like I’ll never be prepared for it.

             
‘He’s dead! They killed him!’

NINETEEN

              Maurice Baudin was a vampire. He was a vampire who kidnapped me, charmed me, manipulated me and  took my first kiss and my virginity. His face is etched on to Gabe’s skin and my mind. He almost killed Claire and took away the love of her life. He did the same to me. He killed my mother. He is the reason I have Rose, Gabe and Oliver in my life. He is the reason my family are not in my life. He ruined my father’s life. Maurice Baudin changed my life.

             
Now he’s dead.

             
‘What? How? What? When? How?’

             
I sit up and start pacing up and down the plush New York city lounge because I need to express all this energy inside of me. I stare at her. I need her to tell me she’s not lying. I need confirmation.

             
I have never seen Arrow so effervescent with emotion but today she is jumping up and down so the floppy bun at the crown of her head is bouncing around. ‘They did it!’

             
This is the best news I have had all year but I can’t even crack a smile. I am too shocked to be happy. It’s hard to grasp the concept that the man who singlehandedly destroyed and rebuilt my life for me is gone forever. I can live my life without fearing that he will seek his revenge but it seems too easy that he has just been erased. How can this be?

             
‘They did it! They closed in on him and they did the spell and it worked and he’s dead!’ she leaps on me and hugs me tight but I struggle to reciprocate while I’m still in shock. Maurice’s evil grin comes into my head. I never have to see that again. I think about the way he touched me, the way I let him hold me, and I feel revolted until I realise that I never have to worry about him again. It’s just a memory now.

             
The phone rings again and I don’t listen to her chatter this time. I stare into space and gather together my thoughts which seem to be strewn across the floor. I pick them up and place them neatly in my pocket and try to think about what this means for me. I am one step closer to freedom. Now that Maurice is gone I can almost taste a life free of constraints and people making decisions for me.

             
Rose and Oliver burst through the door and drop their bags. Rose is crying hysterically but smiling widely and Oliver sprints towards me, picks me up in his arms and spins me around like a child. When he lifts me up, he lifts up my mood too. Why am I acting so sour when Maurice is dead? I should be celebrating! I can’t help but join Rose in a bout of joyful sobs.

             
‘Can you believe it?’ she yells. ‘For years I had to put up with that man and now he’s gone for good! I can’t believe it! Can you believe it?’

             
Oliver sets me down and grins my favourite goofy grin down at me and in a moment of sheer happiness he tells me he loves me and kisses me passionately in front of our friends.

             
Rose comes up to me next and squeezes me tight, ‘We did it.’

             
Seeing Rose and Oliver at my side eradicates any unsure feelings. Once we get rid of these other vampires, this is how my life can be all of the time. If ever there is going to be an appropriate time for cheerful music to play like a soundtrack to my life it is now.

             
Arrow gets off the phone and recounts in gory detail how her sisters, Noah and Glaze, fought with Maurice. He managed to get a hold of Glaze before they killed him so she is injured but they are on their way back now. ‘We were wondering if we could have your blood, Cassie,’ Arrow asks sheepishly and Oliver and Rose stare at me.